Spicy Chicken Stir-fry (Firebird Chicken)

This spicy chicken stir-fry was inspired by an episode of that guiltiest of guilty Food Network pleasures, Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives. At a restaurant called Blue Koi in Kansas City, one of the signature dishes is something called “Firebird Chicken,” a spicy chicken dish served over noodles, which had us drooling in front of the TV. (Plus, the two owners/chefs are sisters, and their wacky senses of humor hit pretty close to home for us!)

For me, the key flavor component to this spicy chicken stir-fry dish is Chinese Sacha BBQ sauce, which is also often used for hot pot as a dipping sauce. The Sacha sauce has a unique flavor and, in my opinion, makes the Firebird Chicken and our copycat version really tasty and unique.

While I have been to Kansas City, I have never visited Blue Koi to eat, but I can tell you that flavors of this recipe lived up to the delicious images we saw on TV (and were probably good enough for Guy Fieri to shamelessly stuff his face with). And––Kaitlin will like this––if you use her crazy good Homemade Chili Oil recipe, you’ll be in spicy chicken stir-fry heaven!

Something that we did shamelessly copy from the show was the cool trick of adding some water to the chicken before the rest of the marinade. This keeps the chicken breast tender and moist during the stir-fry process; we were skeptical at first, but it really makes a difference!

I was excited about this one when I saw it, and even after making it a couple of times in our kitchen, I’m still excited for everyone to try it. If you’ve never heard of Sacha sauce, this is definitely a good reason to go out and buy a jar!

½ teaspoon cornstarch, plus just enough water to make a slurry (optional)

Add the chicken to a bowl, along with 2 tablespoons water. Use your hands to massage the water into the chicken until it is absorbed. Add the rest of the marinade ingredients to the chicken, mix well and set aside.

Heat your wok until almost smoking, and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Spread the chicken one layer deep, and let sear for about 20 seconds. Turn the chicken and let the other side sear for another 20 seconds. Then, immediately transfer back into the marinade bowl.

Add another tablespoon of oil and ginger to the wok, and let caramelize for 10 seconds. Working quickly, stir in the garlic and scallions. After 15 seconds, add the seared chicken (and any juices from the bowl), and the bamboo shoots.

The wok should be on the highest heat and should be searing hot for this next step. Pour the tablespoon of Shaoxing wine around the wok and quickly add the Sacha sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and chili oil. It’s a good idea to combine all these ingredients in a bowl before you turn on your stove, so that you’re not fumbling with jars and bottles while cooking. Note: If this sounds too spicy for you, you can add chili oil to taste rather than the entire amount called for.

Stir-fry everything to combine—at this point, it’s a glistening, spicy, delicious party. The sauces should combine nicely and the cornstarch from the chicken marinade should thicken the sauce slightly. Add a tablespoon of chicken stock if the sauce is too thick.

If you like a lot of sauce, add in the optional auxiliary sauce kicker ingredients at this point, and stir fry for another 20 seconds. Plate and serve your spicy chicken stir-fry over rice!

This spicy chicken stir-fry is perfection. With chicken, scallions, bamboo shoots, and a sauce that goes great over rice, you'll want to make it every week!

Author: Bill

Recipe type: Chicken and Poultry

Cuisine: Chinese

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

For the chicken and the marinade:

12 oz. chicken breast, sliced into ¼-inch thick pieces

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon oil

½ teaspoon sesame oil

For the rest of the dish:

2 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon minced ginger

2 teaspoons minced garlic

2 scallions, sliced at an angle into 2-inch pieces

½ cup bamboo shoots

1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine

2 tablespoons Sacha sauce (Chinese BBQ sauce)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon chili oil (preferably with a good mix of both oil and toasted pepper flakes)

Optional auxiliary sauce kicker:

⅓ cup chicken stock

½ teaspoon light soy sauce

½ teaspoon cornstarch, plus just enough water to make a slurry (optional)

Instructions

Add the chicken to a bowl, along with 2 tablespoons water. Use your hands to massage the water into the chicken until it is absorbed. Add the rest of the marinade ingredients to the chicken, mix well and set aside.

Heat your wok until almost smoking, and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Spread the chicken one layer deep, and let sear for about 20 seconds. Turn the chicken and let the other side sear for another 20 seconds. Then, immediately transfer back into the marinade bowl.

Add another tablespoon of oil and ginger to the wok, and let caramelize for 10 seconds. Working quickly, stir in the garlic and scallions. After 15 seconds, add the seared chicken (and any juices from the bowl), and the bamboo shoots.

The wok should be on the highest heat and should be searing hot for this next step. Pour the tablespoon of Shaoxing wine around the wok and quickly add the Sacha sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and chili oil. It's a good idea to combine all these ingredients in a bowl before you turn on your stove, so that you're not fumbling with jars and bottles while cooking. Note: If this sounds too spicy for you, you can add chili oil to taste rather than the entire amount called for.

Stir-fry everything to combine—at this point, it's a glistening, spicy, delicious party. The sauces should combine nicely and the cornstarch from the chicken marinade should thicken the sauce slightly. Add a tablespoon of chicken stock if the sauce is too thick. If you like a lot of sauce, add in the optional auxiliary sauce kicker ingredients at this point, and stir fry for another 20 seconds. Plate and serve over rice!

30 Comments

I was hoping that it would be the same as a takeaway dish that we buy, called “Chili Chicken”, as your pictures look very similar to it. It tasted nothing like it – but i wasn’t disappointed. Now i have had a new flavour experience – AND i can cook it at home (and it was enjoyed by everyone else too)!

We didn’t have scallions, and i forgot to prepare any onions so that flavour got left out completely. I also did not have the correct Chinese Wine – mine was clear, like water, but i noted on your ingredient guide webpage, that you said it would be okay – and it was.

I will definitely be making this again… I live 300km from the nearest Asian Takeaway outlet (or any other takeaway place for that matter) – so it is wonderful to be able to make a quick, easy dish which still tastes great.

Hi Jae Yu, This recipe is quite specific when it comes to using sacha sauce, so unfortunately there is no real substitute that I can think of. Check our Chinese sauces ingredients page for Sacha sauce. There’s a picture and an amazon link to purchase it.

Have all t he ingredients on hand except the Sacha sauce. Looked up Chinese barbecue sauce. Found Char Sui sauce and hoisen sauce identified as Chinese barbeque both of which I have. Would either of these work as substitute.

I made it yesterday afternoon and served it on the patio under the hot, hot African sky.

Yum.

PS I have to confess that although I bought a fairly expensive tin of Thai bamboo shoots, I could not bring myself about to use it – I did not like the smell, nor taste (nothing wrong with product – I always check the sell-by-date) Do you use fresh or a specific brand of tinned bamboo?

And. What is the chemistry around the water trick? I always thought that the combination of rice wine (or more often than not, in my case, dry sherry) and cornstarch was the magic to tenderise meat that is being marinated. Yet, as you said, the water was fine.

We use mostly vacuum packed and frozen bamboo shoots but in this case, we did used canned shoots. This trick is to open them up the night before, give them a quick rinse and them let them soak overnight in a large bowl of water and rinse them again before use. That reduces the pungent smell of canned bamboo.

As for the water in the chicken, many restaurants have the same practice of adding water to different degrees. I don’t know the chemistry but I think adding moisture works well with chicken and even pork for stir-fry. I don’t like to use it for beef, though, since I think it masks the flavor and texture.